


The Homes We Make

by iamq



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Anorexic Peter Parker, Child Abuse, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, IronDad and SpiderSon, May's Abusive Boyfriend Trope, NOT STARKER - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Physical Abuse, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Worried Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-17 08:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17556971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamq/pseuds/iamq
Summary: Peter Parker isn't the type of boy to run crying to Tony Stark because he can't handle a punch.Michelle Jones and Ned Leeds aren't the type of friends to ignore Peter's rapidly declining health.Eugene "Flash" Thompson isn't an idiot.





	1. Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> "In life, a person will come and go from many homes. We may leave a house, a town, a room, but that does not mean those places leave us. Once entered, we never entirely depart the homes we make for ourselves in the world. They follow us, like shadows, until we come upon them again, waiting for us in the mist.”
> 
> ― Ari Berk, Death Watch

Eugene “Flash” Thompson isn’t an idiot.

He goes to Midtown Tech anyways, so it’s not like most people need more proof, but the doubt still gets to him sometimes. When Parker answers a question faster than him in Biology, or when his dad sends him another disapproving look for getting less than 95% on his History test- it creeps up on him.

But even if he was an idiot, not that he has much of a point of reference beyond Peter Parker himself, he wouldn’t have missed any of this. The way Peter flinches around people isn’t unusual- hell, Flash originally thought it was due to his own influence, he can’t say that he’s been kind to the scholarship student for any of these years. Peter’s very existence at Midtown feels like a punch in the gut; he’s always lingering, a reminder that _he_ got the scholarship, not Flash, a reminder that Flash isn’t the “top dog” of Midtown.  
Now he finds himself staring at the boy during Decathlon practice. MJ never even asks him for answers, so beyond highlighting the same paragraphs of text in his textbook over and over until the paper breaks, he’s at a loss of things to do.

He can see the ugly purple bruise on Peter’s wrist from here. He saw the jut of Peter’s hip in gym when they changed, tried not to look too hard at the lean muscles under his skin (when did _Parker_ get muscles, anyway?), and noticed how it had a dark stain over it- another bruise.  
Flash isn’t stupid. He knows that Peter is working for Tony Stark- as if Ned Leeds was actually quiet when he blabbered about it to half the class’s chagrin. Even when he and Peter are “whispering”, Flash can practically pick up on every word they talk about. By the sounds of it, Peter even knows Spiderman. He’s jealous. It burns like acid in his gut and leaves a bad taste in his mouth, stinging at his eyes. He wonders how proud Peter’s Aunt is of him, probably more proud than Flash’s parents ever were. In a sick, twisted way, Flash used to envy Peter- the boy had a loving aunt who dedicated so much time to him, and a group of friends who _adored_ him. Ned and Michelle always seemed ready to drop everything for Peter, and he knew it wasn’t the same as the friendships he had- all maintained because of Flash’s social standing or through practical bribery.

Taking a rare moment to self-reflect, he guesses that’s why he bullies Peter so relentlessly. Someone in worse circumstances than him financially and with little to no social skills still managed to seem happier than him, more loved than him- _richer_ than him in too many ways.

Eyeing the dark bruise that splays over Peter’s shoulders as he struggles up the rope in Gym, he reconsiders his jealousy. He’s been noticing odd things now- usually Peter doesn’t struggle to complete sets in Gym, usually Flash can see the outline of his muscles under his shirt if he really stares, but recently Peter has been dropping weight like it’s his job. Those lithe muscles have receded so much that, if he’s honest, Peter looks hollowed out, and he’s jumpy now.

Flash can recognise himself in Peter.   
He’s acting the same way Flash did, ages ago, when his dad used to drink and throw things and yell. That same pulled-in-shoulders look, eyes darting around to each door with worry.

Not that Flash’s parents have ever hit him- his dad is better now, practically done with rehabilitation, and Flash doesn’t so much as blink when he comes home now. Something turns in his stomach at the thought of Peter being abused though but, despite wanting to, he knows he can’t interfere. Peter only has May left, and Flash can’t bring himself to take her away from Peter if she’s the one hitting him. Plus, a few bruises can be explained. There’s always just an accident, or he stumbled coming home, or he was mugged. He thinks hard- if Peter _were_ being abused, MJ or Ned would’ve picked up on it. Faster than Flash did, too, since they’re always hanging out with him. So there has to be another explanation for why Peter looks like he’s half-dead on his feet and why his skin looks purple like a painter’s canvas, and why Flash can’t scrub the image of his scared eyes from his own retinas.

Flash tries not to think about it again.

  



	2. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's perspective on things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair."
> 
> ― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Peter sighed heavily as he walked into his Decathlon practice. The tiredness that seemed to have seeped into his bones was still lingering at his eyelids, making the bruises on his skin ache.

His stomach rolls uneasily too- not hunger, he hasn’t felt hungry for a while now, which should worry him- as his spider-senses jerk his attention towards Flash. Anticipating a sly comment or even a harsh nudge, he tenses up involuntarily.  
Flash gives him a worried look before MJ coughs, breaking the tension in the room.

“Alright guys, big news,” She tucks her loose fringe behind her ear before continuing to speak. Peter struggles to focus on her voice as he fades in and out of concentration.

Mr Harrington stepped aside her and smiled wearily at the group of teenagers.  
“After Liz’s unfortunate... departure, you guys have all looked a little gloomy...” Peter’s thankful that the teacher’s sweeping gaze passes over him without lingering and feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He ignores it.  
“So… we’re going to Stark Industries. For a field trip. Don’t be weird about it,” MJ chides, eyeing Ned and Peter. Ned isn’t looking at Peter though, more preoccupied with handing out the thin slips of paper that Mr Harrington had handed to him.

“Make sure you get those signed and back to me by tomorrow morning, or you won’t be allowed onto the trip.”  
Everyone was abuzz with conversation now. Peter just tried to focus on the folder in front of him, full of questions. His head throbbed in pain, and he wondered if MJ would let him leave Decathlon early.

“Hey Peter? You don’t look too good” Ned rubbed his friend’s shoulder comfortingly, but to Peter it shocked him. Idly he thought about how his senses had kicked in, for Ned, but now he just assumed everyone was a threat. Everyone was out to hurt him- and he deserved it.

“Yeah… I uh- uh, got a lot of homework. Don’t know if I can make it this time, it sucks.”  
Ned gave him a quizzical look.  
“Uh, Peter, we’re in the same classes and all we have is that Physics equations sheet. You _love_ physics. Plus, Tony Stark already emailed the school to say you could go, he’s told Aunt May too.”  
Peter feels sick again. He’s been avoiding Mister Stark ever since May’s boyfriend moved in, and for good reason. If he can’t even fight off one _human_ , how can he protect New York? Protect Queens? Protect anyone?  
The suit remains neatly folded up under his bed, buried beneath his childhood drawings and the Iron Man mask from Stark Expo. It feels wrong to have them together but Peter’s scared to take it out. Karen could tell Mister Stark about the bruises and the weight loss and-

“Earth to Peter? Peter? Peter Parker?” MJ’s voice brings him back to reality and he snaps his head up. MJ wouldn’t hit him. But she could kick him out of Decathlon and that meant he’d have to go home earlier, face Oliver earlier and spend longer cooped up in his room, starving and scared.  
  
“Uh, yeah? Sorry, I was-“ he stumbled over his words to search for an excuse that could fly easily, but MJ just waved her hand dismissively. Peter must’ve missed something important.  
“Anyways, like I was saying, Decathlon’s over. Go home, weirdo.” The words had no bite to them or malice, MJ was only kidding around, but Peter eyed the time on the clock suspiciously. He double checked it on his phone.  
“It’s only 4, though. Don’t we still have an hour?”  
MJ shrugged.  
“We’re gonna have a whole day off for Decathlon tomorrow, and probably get back at like, two. Everyone can make up the lost hour then, it’s no biggie.”  
Peter nodded, mouth dry, and slowly packed away his things, rising to leave.  
  
“Are you sure you’re okay, Peter?” Ned reappeared, holding up Peter’s bag for him.  
Peter thinks about the way he can’t stand still too long in case he falls over. He thinks about the way his stomach has caved in on itself, and the way the thought of going home feels like he’s walking into a battle. He thinks of how his healing factor stopped working two weeks ago and bruises from then are still healing. He thinks about how he’s supposed to be an Avenger but he can’t even tell Aunt May that he’s scared.

  
Peter stares at Ned for a moment. He could tell him. He told Ned, back when they were young and Peter feared his babysitter, when he wanted his best friend to help him fight away the older teenager. Ned had told his parents and they’d told Aunt May and Uncle Ben and, as soon as Peter realised he could feel _betrayed_ , he was swept into therapist’s offices and hospital waiting rooms, and it wasn’t until Uncle Ben died that he ever told Ned anything personal again.

  
Now he trusts Ned with his life, and possibly more. Ned’s his guy in the chair, his best friend, the person he knows he _could_ turn to.  
But Aunt May’s salary doesn’t cover a superpowered teenager and his eating habits, plus Peter’s school expenses, as the scholarship doesn’t pay for new backpacks, clothes, shoes… it makes Peter’s head hurt to imagine how much she sacrificed for him. Maybe, in a way, Oliver is right to keep him in line. Maybe Oliver is right to hit him too- Peter’s too tired and worn down to think about it in any light except one of acceptance.  
  
“I’m fine,” he smiles at the pair of them, and gets up, swinging his backpack over his arms and setting off before they can ask him any questions. His phone buzzes again and he _knows_ it’s another reminder from his Stark watch, telling him to put it on. Mister Stark did make it specially for him, but Peter knows it’ll log every bruise and beating he gets, and right now he can’t risk it. The suit will be taken away from him if Mister Stark thinks he’s anything less than capable of maintaining an unbreakable heroic façade, and the suit is all Peter has. The watch remains tucked alongside it, gathering dust.  
He feels terrible, guilty about leaving the streets of Queens open for people to commit crimes, but he can’t risk it. Not with Karen in the suit.

Sneaking through the empty apartment and thanking whatever non-Asgardian God is out there that Oliver isn’t home, he ponders that last thought. Removing Karen from the suit would be dangerous- but it might be his only option. He pulls out the red and blue fabric from under the bed, places the watch on the windowsill and stares at the suit.

Within five minutes he’s scrolling through the code of the suit, eyes catching on comments left in bright green, until he spots it.  
‘//AI code starts here.’  
He highlights all of it until the comments move onto more protocols and copies it to his clipboard. He lets out a heavy, regretful sigh as he deletes it from the code, and saves the new, altered project.  
Before the guilt gets too heavy in his heart, he copies all that code onto a word document and saves it in a USB. He hides it in the bottom drawer of his desk, under schoolbooks and paperclips.  
  
That night, after locking his bedroom door and texting May that he feels sick and will sleep through dinner, he swings through the streets of Queens with something reminiscent of joy, taking a small detour to pick up a sandwich from Delmar’s with the cash he has on him, being careful to pick something he’ll still like, but is totally different from his ‘Peter Parker’ order.  
It feels good to eat something, especially knowing that Oliver isn’t here to make him feel terrible for it, and after a few minutes his vision is less spotty, his heart less fluttery, even if he still feels guilty. Still, before he ate it, he was barely winning fights, and now he has something that’s keeping him on his feet, keeping him throwing punches. The ache in his chest from Karen’s absence is filled with the thrill of fighting and making people safer in the city he loved. For the first time in a while, he forgets about the war at home, and smiles.

He crawls back into his bedroom that night exhausted, stripping of the suit and dressing in one of Ben’s old sweaters. He gets colder faster now, with less muscle to protect him from the winter chill.

 


	3. Rebound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,  
> But I have promises to keep,  
> And miles to go before I sleep,  
> And miles to go before I sleep. "
> 
> ― Robert Frost
> 
> WARNING: This chapter details a minor instance of Oliver abusing Peter verbally and physically. Read at your own discretion.

“Peter, get up right now!” Oliver yells from outside his door, slamming his fist against the wood in a way that causes it to shake. Peter’s already awake- he’s been numbly staring at the ceiling since 6AM where he wished goodbye to his aunt as she left for a week long training session, in the biggest hospital in NYC. Knowing that his last defence against Oliver is gone stings, but it’s one step closer to May becoming an actual doctor, and with that kind of salary boost, they might not struggle so much every month.   
Peter figures he can take a beating every now and then if it keeps stress off his aunt’s shoulders, and money in her purse.

Oliver always says that Peter takes up too much of her time, and her money anyways. Maybe a week away from him will actually make May smile again, ease the tension from her muscles. He sees how much she smiles around Oliver, and laughs, almost reminiscent of how happy she was with Ben. That thought is quickly scrubbed from his mind. Ben and Oliver are nothing alike; Ben was as good as a father to Peter, and Oliver is a dark shadow that has a vice over his heart.

Peter gets up when he hears Oliver curse under his breath and quickly shoves on a random shirt and jeans, bag already packed. He steps out of his room when he’s sure his phone is tucked into his back pocket and is immediately confronted by Oliver.

“Don’t ever fucking ignore me like that again, you understand?” The hand on his shoulder presses in uncomfortably and Peter shudders, avoiding making eye contact- he still has the bruise over his shoulder blades when he paid the price for _that_ mistake.

“Yessir,” Peter mumbles, and Oliver seems to relent.   
“I’m just trying to teach you, Peter, honestly,” He seems drunk, or otherwise intoxicated. Peter knows when May leaves the house, Oliver smokes, even though May told him not to in case Peter’s asthma ever comes back. He stumbles forwards, boxing Peter into the corner of the kitchen and waving the cigarette around, Peter’s eyes hyperfocus on the glowing end, his spider senses screaming at him to knock it away, get it away from him, but he focuses on keeping every single one of his muscles still and compliant. He knows the hit is coming before it lands, but he lets Oliver beat him around for a bit before he puts up his arms to defend himself. Without realising, the hot butt of the cigarette has seared his forearm in an ugly streak.

Peter lets out a small wheeze as the pain sinks in, his battered body trembling as Oliver steps, bowlegged, backwards.  
“It’s what you fucking- someone needs to teach you,” He tries to compose himself, “and whilst I’m here, I pay the fucking bills, I put the food on the table and I’m gonna put you in your place. Now get the fuck out.”  
Pulling a thin hoodie over himself to cover up his rapidly staining arms, he nods obediently in Oliver’s direction and then bolts out of the house, terrified. He feels sick again but knows he has nothing in him to throw up, and henceforth takes a second to rock on the balls of his feet, self-soothing. He could tell someone. He could tell Ned. He could tell Mister Stark- he chides himself again. Mister Stark only needs him for official business, superhero stuff. He’s not going to answer to some whiny teenager problems.

Heading off down the street he thinks more about it. Maybe not going out in the suit is a good thing. The teenager is sure Happy was annoyed with all those voicemails left behind, and Mister Stark was so angry after the Ferry Incident, it makes Peter flush with shame. He’s so annoying, just a waste of time like Oliver always said. Even yesterday, he dipped on MJ and Ned and-

Oh. _Oh._ Yesterday. He’s walking up the steps of Midtown when he remembers that today is the field trip to Stark Industries and he needs to instead be walking towards the bus stop.

Panting, he just about makes it into the sight of the group, Ned cheering when Peter stumbles into view of the team.  
“I knew he was just late! C’mon Peter, let’s get in…” He lets Ned’s voice fade into background chatter as he gets into the bus, being careful to avoid his arm hitting anything. He thinks he can feel the fresh burn sticking to his hoodie and it makes him shudder, zoning back into what Ned is saying.

“Anyways, so the trip’s gonna be like… an hour long, you going to nap or something? You look pretty beat.” Ned leans in closer, smiling, “I heard that, y’know, your _friend’s_ been swinging around again. Seems like everyone missed him.”  
  
Peter smiles at that.  
“Yeah well, they wouldn’t miss him if they knew what he was really like. Don’t know how you put up with him.”  
Ned laughs, and shakes his head. He whispers the next part, both painfully conscious of the way Flash is watching them.

  
“I don’t ‘put up’ with you, Peter, you’re my friend. Be real.” He nudges Peter into the window seat so Peter accepts it, wincing slightly when sitting down puts pressure on a bruise that he didn’t know he had. Watching the streets roll out as he listens to one of Ned’s albums on his phone, he almost feels like an echo of his old life is returning to him on a rebound, he almost feels… happy.

The exhaustion of living his days starving, and beaten, gets to him. Leaning against Ned’s soft shoulder as the bus pulls onto the motorway, he feels his eyelids get heavy. His phone buzzes a few times, but he ignores it to linger in the draw of sleep, and before he knows it, he’s slumped down across Ned like a drowned sailor on a shore.

From a few seats back, forehead creased in worry, Flash watches. 


	4. Reconcile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash owns up to a hard confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "He, was a broken branch  
> Grafted onto a different family tree;  
> Adopted,  
> Not because his parents opted for a different destiny  
> He was three when he became a mixed drink  
> Of one part left alone  
> And two parts tragedy."
> 
> ― Shane Koyczan, To This Day

Flash kept his eyes on Peter for most of the journey. Occasionally during his sleep, Peter would cringe, struggle awake for a second, and Ned would look over in worry, before Peter fell back asleep. Flash couldn’t make heads nor tails of it- if Ned knew too, why didn’t he say anything? Courtesy of a few overheard conversations, Flash knows that after Peter’s parents died, he lived briefly with Ned and his family before May got custody of Peter, so it’s not like Flash must be responsible for this.

Peter’s phone buzzed again, and he jolted awake, quickly cancelling the phone call that was incoming. Doing a double take, Flash watched as a picture of Tony Stark faded from the screen.  
Out of all the things that had happened over the past week, _this_ confused Flash the most. Why would Peter ignore his idol, knowing that they were heading towards Stark Industries and getting closer every minute?  
He sunk back down into his seat when Peter sat up to talk to Ned, and turned his face towards the window to think everything over. It was almost giving him a headache trying to understand Peter’s life, and he sighed grumpily, turning up his music and drowning out everything else for the rest of the journey.

 

“Alright everyone,” Mr Harrington broke the silence and smiled warmly at the teenagers, all waking up from naps or shaking themselves out of daydreams.  
“I want you to be on great behaviour today of course, as Stark Industries is a professional establishment, and this is a really important trip. I doubt we’ll see _the_ Tony Stark but you’ll still be in potential job scouting environment so… be great!”  
Flash got out after everyone else did, following his own group of friends quite slowly. Working for Stark Industries was always a dream of his, but with so much going on in his mind, he wasn’t sure how he could focus on it.

Walking up to the entrance of Stark Industries was an entirely different experience though. With the pristine glass walls and the pure white entrance hall, Flash felt completely out of place. A tour guide, her hair pinned back neatly and her smile honest and open, stepped forwards to greet them.  
“Midtown Tech, I assume?”  
Mr Harrington nodded at her, introducing all the students to her as she handed out clear white ID badges to every student- except Peter. Twisting it in the light, Flash saw how there was a holographic sheen to it with lines that he assumed would be picked up by a scanner as they moved in.

Casting his eyes upwards again, he noticed that Peter had taken out his own ID card from his bag, almost identical aside from having a picture of Peter and his name, along with a red stripe at the bottom. It was surprisingly cool, and Flash wondered why Peter had never just taken it out whenever he’d been teased about lying about the internship. Seeing the way Peter holds it like he’s not supposed to have it, Flash considers that back then, he might’ve just called it fake anyways.

He holds back a sigh as he considers it, knowing he should apologise to Peter. It stings at his pride to do so, but hell, if anything could remotely make Peter’s life easier, Flash might as well do it. He never really thought about how much his actions must’ve affected the other teenager until now and knowing that he was already going through so much, adding the false accusation of lying on top feels like salt in a wound.

  
“Hey, Pe- Peter?” Flash stumbles over the old nickname, and watches as Peter turns around, looking dejected and tired. Ned and MJ turn with him, MJ a lot subtler, but both of them obviously protective, eyes narrowed, and shoulders tensed.  
“Yeah, Flash?” Peter responds, already casting his eyes down at the ground, fumbling with the badge in his hands. Flash’s hesitancy embarrasses him- he knows the tour guide is almost done handing out badges and it’s the _right thing_ to apologise, but it feels wrong. Confronting a part of himself he never really thought about, accepting he bullied someone… it makes him flush in embarrassment and cringe at the same time.

  
“I’m sorry.” MJ and Ned’s heads snap up in synchrony, but Peter only lazily blinks at Flash- his eyes guarded and posture unchanged. Before he can speak, Flash continues.  
“I didn’t believe you, about the Stark Internship. Not at first but then, Ned kept whispering to you about it and stuff,” Ned throws Peter a concerned look, but Peter is just staring at Flash now, fixated.  


“What do you want, Flash? I can’t get you your own internship. I can’t… organise a meeting with Tony Stark, so if this “apology” is just a way to try and get in Mister Stark’s good books, you can stop. I’m sorry but, I really can’t do anything.”  
Flash swallows hard. Peter has given him an out without realising. He could laugh off the apology, return to bullying Peter like everything was before, and pretend he didn’t notice the brief sliver of hope in his eyes when he first apologised, or the bruises on his wrists when he answers a question in class. As soon as the thought passes his mind, he shuns it. It’s disgraceful that it even took him this long to grow up and admit what he did- what he _does_ was wrong, and he can’t keep going.

“No, I don’t- this isn’t me trying to get something from you. I’m sorry. Not just about the internship stuff either. I’ve been a bully to you for like, way too long, and you’ve never deserved it. You’re smart, and you deserve this internship and… I’m just a dick. You don’t have to forgive me, it’s… yeah.”  
  
He feels lame. Peter is still giving him that one-thousand-yard stare, and they stand in awkward silence for a moment, the buzz of the people around them almost completely forgotten in their brief discussion.

“Uh, that’s… it’s cool, Flash, really. Thank you.” Peter rubs at his arm and then winces, and if Flash looks closely, he thinks Peter might be close to crying.  
“So, uh…” He goes to back away from the boy, but Peter steps forwards, one hand hesitantly raised.  
“You’re not a dick, Flash. You’re just a kid, and- y’know, there are way worse people in the world. You’re, uh, you’re smart too.”

Throwing Flash a quick, brief smile, Peter turns back to Ned and MJ, who look cautiously at Flash for a second longer, before all four of them turn back to the tour guide, thankful that nobody else seemed to have noticed the heart-heavy discussion only a few feet away from them.

“Alright then everyone, I’m your tour guide for the day. You can call me Morgan, I work in the social management branch of Stark Industries. I’ve just given you all a visitor’s badge, which will activate as soon as you enter through our scanners and deactivate the moment you leave. They’re each coded to your name but are reusable, as per Mister Stark’s requests to reduce waste, so please take good care of them and make sure not to lose them!”  
Morgan, still smiling widely at the group, stepped through one of the many scanners, swiping her own page- white and grey, just like the team’s, over a small black square on the wall. There was a quiet beep before a voice spoke from an unseen speaker.

“Morgan Westwood, Level 2 Pass, Tour guide. Welcome.”  
As more students filed through and were registered, Morgan kept speaking.

“Now this voice that you can all hear is FRIDAY, Mister Stark’s _personal_ AI. He created her to manage the systems, and she’s very intelligent- not only is she registering people here in the entrance, but she’s probably helping Tony Stark himself up in the labs, as well as monitoring the extravagant camera system we have here. She learns and adapts with every person that comes through our doors, all to keep you guys safe.”

In all honesty, this was the coolest thing Flash had ever heard of. As he stepped through, it gave him a shiver of pride to hear her call out his name- one day, hopefully, he’d work here, and hear that every morning. Ned and MJ stepped through behind him, along with Abraham, before Peter made it to the gate.

“Peter Parker, Level Null Pass, Intern and Redacted. Welcome back, Peter. Boss has been trying to contact you recently, would you like me to inform him that you’ve arrived?”  
Flash watched as Peter shook his head, before glancing up at the ceiling, seeming to know exactly where FRIDAY would be watching them from, or know exactly where her speakers were.  
“No, no thanks Fri. I, uh, I’m just here on a school thing.” He rubbed his arm again, and Flash noticed a darker spot where he was rubbing, that looked almost wet.  
“Alright, Peter. I’ll tell the Boss you’re busy.”  
“Thank you, so much.”

The relief across Peter’s face made something uneasy settle in Flash’s stomach, but he was so distracted by the building that he could barely focus.

“Wait,” Betty broke everyone’s awe, “What’s a Null pass? That doesn’t make sense.”  
Morgan smiled at her, delighted to answer a question from a curious student.

“Well, knowing you’re from a STEM school, you’ve probably studied some hexadecimal conversion, right?”  
Betty shook her head.  
“That’s kinda what Peter and MJ do. They’re all… computer science-y, most of the Decathlon team do _real_ sciences, like Chemistry.”  
Morgan laughed, shaking her head.  
“Well, quite a bit of Stark Industries is based around Computer Science. Now a computer works mainly in binary, which is ones and zeros- on or off. That’s all in base two, hopefully everyone knows that?”  
The team nodded, and Morgan opened up her Starkpad, using a painting tool to draw out a demonstration of what she was doing.

“Well, hexadecimal is base 16. There are 16 values to it, but do you ever notice on a computer’s keyboard that the numbers only go from zero to nine? In hex, it goes one to nine, and then A to F, making sixteen values. Now here at Stark Industries, the numerical value is all that matters- all the badges between values one and nine look the same,” She waved around her own badge in demonstration, “but people like Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, or other people with special access privileges will go in value Null, or value _zero_. Does that make sense?”

The team nodded, all varying levels of confidence. Peter was flushed red in embarrassment and he tucked his badge into his hoodie, zipping it up.

Morgan started to lead them away from the entrance, taking them into a new hallway that was just as clean and orderly as the rest of the company; the team heading straight towards an elevator that opened automatically. Mr Harrington gave a worried look at his students for a second, most of them unaffected by the sight of another elevator, but all of them oddly tense, even if they didn’t know why.  
From behind him, Flash heard Ned talking, and he turned his head to watch out of the corner of his eye.  
“Dude that is so cool! You never told me you had _special_ stuff! And your badge is red! Is that because of-“  
“Ned!” Peter sighed, exasperated, “Can we not talk about- that stuff, right now? Here?”  
Ned nodded.  
“Fine. But this weekend, we’re gonna take down that Death Star lego set, and you’re spilling it _all_.”  


“Peter,” FRIDAY’s voice chirped from above, “Boss says he needs to see you urgently, intern stuff, as he described it.”  
“But I,” Peter started, before being cut off again.  
“He said it’ll only take a little while, and the rest of your group can go on ahead, he’ll bring you back down to them afterwards.”

It seemed like Peter was fighting a battle internally over this, before he sighed. He looked over to Morgan and Mr Harrington, almost pleadingly.  
“Is that… okay?”

The two adults nodded, and Peter stepped from the elevator, waving goodbye to the team and especially to Ned, as though he was a last lifeline.  
As the doors closed and Peter walked away, Flash felt a pit form in the bottom of his stomach, turning his attention back to Morgan and hoping everything wasn’t as he thought it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this.  
> I'm sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I do have this whole story planned out, I just had a health scare over the past two days where I had to go to hospital and have some minor tests done. Right now I'm still recovering so updates will be a little bit slower. I hope you enjoyed a slightly-longer-than-normal chapter to make up for it!  
> p.s. - Tony Stark next chapter! I know you all have been waiting for him!


	5. Refute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotional turmoil on all sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore.  
> This city will always pursue you.  
> You’ll walk the same streets, grow old  
> in the same neighborhoods, turn gray in these same houses.  
> You’ll always end up in this city. Don’t hope for things elsewhere:  
> there’s no ship for you, there’s no road.  
> Now that you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner,  
> you’ve destroyed it everywhere in the world."
> 
> ― C. P. Cavafy, The City

“Is everything… okay, Fri?” Peter asked cautiously as he walked towards the other elevator, feeling anxiety rise in his stomach.  
“Boss looks pretty mad, Peter,” FRIDAY responds, opening the doors for Peter and beginning the journey without Peter needing to activate any buttons.  
Ignoring the intense sickness in his stomach, Peter nods.  
“He knows about the Karen thing,” FRIDAY continues, “and she’s upset that you took her out of the suit. Maybe if you could tell me why you-“  
“I can’t, Fri. I really can’t.” He swallowed again, trying to push past the rising panic as the elevator paused it’s ascent, opening the doors to let him leave.

Walking up to the labs, he feels more scared than he does walking home to see Oliver. Mister Stark could do anything; take his suit, ruin his name, yell at him, _hit_ him… Peter’s mind is all too ready to fill in the blanks that his anxiety allows.  
The door rolls open as he steps towards it, and taking a deep breath before he enters, he steps through the entry and into the bright, quiet lab.

“So, _once again_ on Petey-pie screws the pooch,” Mister Stark is suddenly directly in front of him, and Peter feels as though everything has tunnelled down onto the man in front of him, every sense dialled directly towards him. The room feels tight and cramped and Peter’s heart is in his throat, chest tight and his pulse jumping in his throat.  
“So, I see you aren’t going out in the suit, like at all. Whatever, kid’s focusing on his homework, right? Focusing on school- it’s never too early to start thinking about college. So he puts the suit aside for a bit, you know, I actually thought you were being mature, and I guess I was wrong.”  
“Mister Stark, I…” Peter’s trying to apologise but the words are stuck in his throat, eyes downcast ( _“Don’t look me in the eye you little shit, I’m not your fucking friend, I’m in charge here, okay?” Oliver warns, the sting of a jab in Peter’s jut still leaving him doubled over._ )  
“Ah, ah, quiet. The adult is talking. You _know_ what happened last time you directly ignored my instructions and now,” Tony raises his hand to emphasise his point, stepping forwards and back into Peter’s space.  
“You hacked the suit. You took Karen out of your suit. Why? I made her to keep you safe, and you- you what, wanted to go for a late-night patrol? Wanted to mess around and take it to a party or something?”  
“Mister Stark, I really didn’t- I just took it out to…” Peter wheezes in a breath that stings his lungs, overwhelmed beyond belief.  
“To what, Peter?”  
“She kept- giving me errors- not starting up when I put the suit on,” He chokes out the lie easily, terrified as he feel Mister Stark’s eyes burn into his skin, “I kept the code- had it on a USB, I’ve been looking through it trying to- to find out why this … I didn’t want to bother you.”

The silence between the pair of them is pregnant. Peter’s hand is dug into his arm, nails pressing into the fabric of his hoodie so tightly he’s convinced he could break the threads if he pressed any harder.

“Peter,” Tony sighs, all the tension leaving his body at once, as the stress in Peter doubles.  
“Boss, Peter’s tour guide is requesting his return,” FRIDAY chirps from the ceiling above them, and Tony immediately takes a step back, looking the teenager over in review. Peter’s gaze is fixed to the floor, his hands wrapped around his upper arms, clenched so strongly Tony is sure they’ll leave bruises. He’s trembling.

“I can b- I can bring the suit on Friday, to, to fix it. I’ll bring the code too- I, uh, I won’t patrol… I’m so sorry, Mister Stark, I… don’t know what I was thinking.” Peter took a small, almost unnoticeable step back, and Tony stood up again, stepping forwards and addressing Peter.  
Despite everything in his heart pushing Tony to reach out to Peter, talk to him, he’s hesitant to try and be a father figure for the teenager. He knows Peter has already lost so much, and with the work they both do as Spiderman and Iron Man, they’re both constantly at a risk of being hurt, or worse, killed. Thinking about how terrible of a father Howard was, Tony knows he could never be a good influence on someone as sweet-hearted as Peter.

He chose a safer path.  
“Are you good, kid?” Peter nodded immediately in response and coughed awkwardly.  
Tony, uncomfortable in the silence that prevailed, began to ramble.  
“Look, kid, Pete, I put Karen in your suit for a reason, okay? She keeps an eye on you when I can’t, she can… tell me when you need help, stuff like that. I’m just trying to teach you a lesson here, yeah?” Peter looks up, wide eyed, but Tony doesn’t notice.  
“You don’t need to- to teach me a lesson, Mr Stark, I got it, I’ll leave the suit alone, I don’t-”

“Boss? Morgan has sent another request.” FRIDAY broke into Peter’s mounting anxiety with a soft tone, and Mr Stark turned away, thankfully missing how Peter wiped away a quick tear from his cheek. He watched as Tony opened up the alert on his starkpad, and tried not to tremble whenever Tony adjusted how he stood. He didn’t know what his mentor had meant when he mentioned a lesson. It could be a lecture, or a beating, or completely taking away his suit and telling Aunt May everything- he wasn’t sure what would be worse.

“Let me take you back to your group, Pete. I…”  
Peter turned to Tony. Tony deserved to know what was happening, he could _trust_ Mister Stark. He wasn’t just a kid like Ned was, and he wasn’t busy like May, and he wasn’t a stranger.

But if he admitted it, Mister Stark might think he was just a child. A kid who couldn’t protect himself against a normal human, who would be useless in a fight. A _child_.  
As they turned towards the lab doors, they opened, revealing two students- Ned and Flash- in the light, looking thoroughly _whelmed_ about the situation they were facing.

“Uh, sorry for interrupting…” Ned’s hesitant voice echoed around the silent lab, and Peter made a beeline for him, like he was a shield.  
“Morgan told us to come down and fetch Peter,” The boy continued, half awestruck and half confused. “She said you uh, you always get carried away with him in the labs.”  
Tony Stark smiled at the three of them, even if it was obviously forced.  
“Of course. I’ll let you take him back, FRIDAY can lead you back to the group. That okay?”  
As he waved his hand, Flash watched Peter flinch so bodily that even Ned noticed. He grimaced.  
  
Ned took Peter’s hand almost inconspicuously, and Flash watched as Ned led the silent teenager away almost slowly, like one would coax a scared dog into leaving the house during a storm. He stood still as they made their way down the hall behind him, staring at Tony Stark, billionaire, former playboy, entrepreneur, Flash’s childhood hero.

Iron Man.

“Hey kid? You space out a little there or something? Tour’s not down this part of the lab, too many secret government secrets or something like that.” joked Tony Stark, billionaire, former playboy, entrepreneur, ...child abuser.

Flash opened his mouth, carefully considering his words.  
“I know.”

 


	6. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case is on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I am the soft stars that shine at night.  
> Do not stand at my grave and cry;  
> I am not there. I did not die."
> 
> \- Mary Elizabeth Frye

 

“I know.”  
The words cut the silence threateningly. The boy in front of him didn’t look especially intimidating, hair slightly curly but pushed back, eyes settled into a natural accusatory glare. He must’ve been around Peter’s heart but less lithe than his kid- and Tony stopped himself there. He was going to ask Peter earlier about how those previously well fitting clothes seemed baggier on him now, and why Peter was so jumpy, but beyond the fear induced accusations over removing Karen ( _seriously,_ he thought, _when did that name begin to stick?_ ) his mind had somewhat abandoned him.

And now this kid knew something. He sighed heavily.

“Don’t you have a tour to get back to, Mr…?”  
“Flash. My name is Flash. And,” he raised his phone to his chest, typed out and sent a quick message, “my tour group now thinks that I’m going home because I feel sick. So I have all day, Mr Stark.”  
“Wait, Flash? Aren’t you the kid that-“  
“Never mind who I am. I know what’s going on with you and Peter, and frankly, it’s not right, you hear me?” Flash is shaking minutely, adrenaline coursing through his veins.  
“Flash, Dash, kid, whatever your name is,” Tony rubs his forehead in frustration, feeling a budding headache growing, “What do you want from me?”  
Flash gives him a blank look.  
“I mean, money? A car, a plane, a job, what? I’m not one to beg, but Peter doesn’t deserve his life ruined over this.”  
“Wh- I don’t want anything, you can’t pay me off to be silent about this!”  
“Fine, _Flash_ , we’ll do this the hard way.” He twists the bracelet on his right arm and pulls out a safety switch, before a part of an Iron Suit begins to form around his forearm and hand. Tony Stark clenches his fist and stares down the teenager, who stays silent.  
“Now we both know that _you_ know something you shouldn’t. And I recognise your name, _Flash._ ” He spits it out each time like cyanide lining his tongue, “You’re one of those bullies that Peter talks about sometimes. So what did you do? Beat him up until he told you the truth?”

Stark steps forwards, a perfect picture of intimidation, seething with rage.  
“Did you mock the fact he’s an orphan? Make jokes about his dead Uncle? What was it that finally broke my kid, huh? I bet you’re the reason he was so scared today and-“  
“Uh, aren’t you the one hitting Peter?”

Tony stops in his rampage, and steps backwards, the nanotech around his arm folding back into a compact bracelet.  
“Me- hitting Peter- wh- what on _earth_ gave you that idea?”

Flash gives him a condemning look, almost echoing Rhodey’s disappointment and it almost tips Tony off balance.  
“Ned and I could hear you yelling him out from down the corridor. And hell, he walked out of that room practically in tears, clinging onto Ned like he was the last bastion or something! Plus he shows up at school all the time with bruises all over his body, and now recently he’s been dropping weight and he’s so fucking skinny and- and it can’t be Aunt May hitting him, so it has to be you! He was practically having a panic attack when we even mentioned coming here and-“

Tony holds up a hand to shush him, thinking hard.

“So that’s it? You just think I’m hitting Peter?”  
“Yes.”  
Tony has to respect this kid. A total asshole according to Peter (although obviously, he hasn’t been paying enough attention to his kid recently), but ready to stand up to Iron Man himself because he thinks some kid is being abused.

“FRIDAY, can you get Happy to take this kid home? And uh, the kid’s still in the building, right? Check him over for me. I need to know why all of this stuff is happening.”  
“H-Hey you can’t just send me home-“  
“Look, the tour’s probably not gonna end for a while. I can hold Peter back after everyone else leaves, and you can get a ride home with my personal bodyguard. You did great, kid.”  
Flash felt the embarrassment he’d been holding back finally seep into his actions.

“I’m uh, sorry, that I yelled at you, Mister Tony Stark. Sir. You were always like, my childhood hero so I guess I was kinda emotional and-“  
“…It takes a certain type of bravery to stand up to adults, and another type to stand up to adults that you look up to. If all of Midtown is made of the same type of kid as you, I’m glad my kid is going there.”  
“Wait, your kid? Is that what you thought I knew? That Peter is your biological child-“  
Tony waved goodbye as the elevator doors closed on Flash, FRIDAY chuckling as she sent him away, having already alerted Happy to pick him up.

“Right, Fri, only woman for me, how’s Spidey looking?”  
“Not great Boss,” She brings up a hologram of Peter’s body like she did to meld the first few Spidersuit prototypes, letting it rotate as she pinpoints the worst areas.  
“Obviously reports from Karen in the suit would help. I managed to resend the code into the suit remotely, using the “Santa Claus” bypass. She’s checking over the last activity right now but it’ll take her a while to get through all your security bypasses.”

Tony settles down on the workbench with a cup of coffee in his hand, sighing heavily.  
“I’m guessing he didn’t take Karen out because she was glitching, then?”  
“I think he was trying to hide this from you. If it is the abuse that this “Flash” suspected, it makes sense. Mr Parker does have a history of abuse.”  
“Wait, what? A history of abuse? He never told me.”  
“I discovered it during a weekly recheck of your employee’s online media. For some reason, Mr Parker was included in the sweep and it came up.”  
“Can I get those details then?”

“Sending them now. Peter is currently stood in the lobby, I can tell him to put on his Stark Watch when he gets home, and we can monitor his vitals better from there.”

Tony brought up the police reports from so many years ago. They were scanned in digitally, otherwise practically untouched, hidden away from the world like something shameful.

He nodded idly in the direction of the holograms, and FRIDAY was silent as she processed and sent the information, giving him some space as he read through the reports.

 

It felt wrong, to read more than the first page. Peter should’ve been the one to tell him this when he felt safe to, not have his secrets stolen from him. He pulls the front page away from the others, balancing that light projection in his hand and rotating it, waving his hand at the other pages, letting them disintegrate. This first page, washing everything around it in blue light, floats above him.  
He brings it closer and begins to read.

 

“It says..” Tony sucks in a muffled noise of anguish and remains staring at the screen’s projection so hard he thinks he could pick apart every single pixel.  
“Boss, it looks like you’re going to have an anxiety attack. Do you want me to call Pepper to help?”

He shook his head and sank down, the hologram following him like a shadow in the corner of his eye. Waving it away until it joined the others, he took a moment to breathe heavily.  
“Friday, I- I made so many jokes about future partners around him, about sex, stuff like that- what was I thinking?”  
“You couldn’t have known, Boss. And… if it helps,” FRIDAY brings up the hologram of Peter’s injuries, and Tony watches as the injuries reduce and are replaced with hormone levels.

“Every time Peter was around you, his oxytocin levels increased significantly. His heart beat would slow down when you worked alongside him, and he expressed great happiness when you complimented his work.”  
Tony nods, numbly.  
“I scared him today, didn’t I?”  
“Although I am not the best at reading human emotions, I believe he was reliving a past abuse situation and projecting it. His cortisol levels spiked when you mentioned “teaching him a lesson.” Perhaps the perpetrator is a teacher?”

Tony pondered that for a moment.  
“No, no, that teacher with them seemed… fine. Not the type. Plus, none of the other kids had injuries, did they?”  
“One of the students, ‘Betty Brant’, had a minor abrasion injury on her leg, Ned Leeds had two small scratches over his right forearm registering as cat claw injuries, and Abr-“  
“I get it, I get it. Why didn’t you notify me about his injuries?”  
FRIDAY paused before answering. Tony wondered if she could feel remorseful.

“I believed they were from patrol… From now on, I will check his weight, stress levels, and injuries every time he enters the compound.”  
“Thanks, Fri.”  
The silence stretched out, and DUM-E made his way over with a cup of coffee, managing to only spill a few drops in his rush.  
Tony gave him a soft pat as thanks, and stares up at the space.

“It doesn’t make sense. I mean, what time was Peter getting those injuries?”  
“The injuries appeared after school hours. The depth of the bruises indicates an adult was leaving th-“  
“He’s being hit by an adult when he isn’t at school.”  
“That, I can confirm. Without Peter here physically, I cannot do a more detailed analysis for you, boss.”  
“Could you analyse it through the watch?”  
“Probably. I’ll send him another reminder if he hasn’t put it on in two hours.”  
Tony nodded, sitting down on a stool and sipping his coffee, letting it burn his tounge.

“An adult… at home. It doesn’t… you don’t think it could be the kid’s Aunt?”  
“It is a probability.”  
“Shit.”


	7. Recoil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation between two parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "From the lightning in the sky   
> As it pass’d me flying by—   
> From the thunder, and the storm—   
> And the cloud that took the form   
> (When the rest of Heaven was blue)   
> Of a demon in my view—"
> 
> \- Edgar Allan Poe

“Look, you need to get me on the phone to May Parker. I know she’s busy, but this is about her boy Peter. He’s injured, bad.”  
  
Tony sat back from the phone, leaving it on speaker as he heard the person at the receiver shuffle around, getting May for him.  
“Hello? May Parker here, what’s going on?”  
“It’s Tony.”  
“Oh god. Is something wrong with Peter? Is he hurt?”  
Biting back acid from his tone, Tony sat heavily on the chair next to his workbench. From here he could see Peter’s bench, scattered with his mugs and notebooks, prototypes of new web shooters and an old jacket that he’d forgotten to take home.  
“I thought you of all people would’ve known. Listen to me very carefully. I have an automated car parked out front of the hospital you’re working at right now, it’s going to take you directly to Stark Industries’ underground entrance. FRIDAY will light up a path for you to follow to get to my lab, and then we need to talk.”  
He hung up before she could reply, and slumped over the desk, scrubbing his eyelids with his palms.

The starkpad on the table lit up, with no notification to be seen. FRIDAY must’ve done it.   
He picked it up and opened a sketching pad app, drawing out new designs. A suit that monitored practically everything around Peter’s health, a ring that could monitor his heartrate and form a nanotech suit around him when he needed it, anything to protect him from this ever again. As he made a note- ( _Make sure everything is red, blue, gold, white. Kid loves those colours_ ), his phone buzzed.  
“STARKWATCH: Peter Parker, activated. Monitoring begins now.”  
Tony smiled, even if there was sadness behind it.

He drew out updates for Karen, letting her interact with Peter more, letting her call Tony more often- he couldn’t ever let something like this slip past his reach again.   
“Boss? May Parker is a minute from reaching the labs. She’s very angry.”   
Shutting down the starkpad, Tony stood up, staring at the door.   
In surprisingly less time than FRIDAY had predicted, May Parker walked through the laboratory door with an air of someone not to be messed with. Her hair was pulled back tightly in a low ponytail, only a few strands loose, her glasses low on the bridge of her nose. She adjusted them with a free hand, the other one clutching her bag, as she dropped it on the floor, walking towards Tony in a way that echoed Pepper when she was angry.

“Anthony Stark, you better tell me exactly what’s happened to Peter right now or giuro su Dio, I’ll- where is he?”  
“Peter’s… at home. He’s not- this isn’t about Spiderman.”  
“Well, what is it? You can’t just pull me out of my _job_ , Tony, I work in a hospital, it’s not like I-“  
“Someone is abusing Peter.”  
“What?”  
“Someone is abusing Peter, and the only person I could think of being able to do it is you. So neither of us are leaving until…”  
May stopped. She took off her glasses and sat down on the bench, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and sighing heavily. Tony’s phone buzzed and he silenced it, pushing it away.   
“Someone is abusing Peter.” She repeated hollowly. “Again.”  
Her eyes flickered up to Tony.   
“What’s happened?”  
“He hasn’t been going out in the suit, like at all. When he did, he took Karen out of the suit, and I gave him some grief for it. But FRIDAY told me afterwards that he’s like… all bruised up, and,” Tony sighed, rubbing his temples, “FRIDAY told me about that… Steven Westcott dude.”  
“Skip,” May finished, and shook her head. “Bastard. Peter wouldn’t do anything after he got found out- used to just sit there and stare silently at you, even with Ned, he’d just _stare._ We thought he’d never come back from it, God- he was practically comatose.”  
Tony’s phone buzzes again, but he ignores it entirely.  
“Even with Ned?”  
“He was the only person Peter told about it. I guess he felt safe, telling his best friend,” May’s voice is clouded with emotion, and pain, “But after it, he wouldn’t even talk to Ned for months. Wouldn’t sleep, eat, talk to us, and then when this whole Spiderman thing started, he shut himself away from me and, God, Tony, I was so scared. I thought something had happened again, and now- now it could’ve? And we don’t even know who did it?”  
“Wouldn’t eat?” May nods. “I wonder if… that explains… anyways. What got him out of it last time? He had to have talked to a therapist or something, what- what changed?”  
May chuckles, obviously thinking back.  
“It was that Stark Expo thing.” Tony freezes up. Had he traumatised the kid before he’d even known him?”  
“What about it?” He chokes out.  
“He’d taken his Iron Man mask- he _loved_ you, seriously. Childhood idol, all that. We bought it for him to help him sleep- told him Iron Man was watching over him, Skip couldn’t come and get him because Iron Man would stop him, because Skip’s a bad guy. But he had the mask, and he went to Stark Expo and I guess, when he was with Ben, he snuck away. During all that chaos, Ben couldn’t find him and then he saw Peter, mask on, staring down one of those… monster things, and you swooped in and saved the day. Saved his life, for sure. It was all he talked about for a week, but God, I was so happy that he was talking at all…”  
Tony’s chest feels tight.   
“I should’ve been… been here for him this time…” He chokes out, ignoring the way his phone buzzes twice ( _Because seriously, if Pepper needs to talk to him that badly, surely, she can tell FRIDAY to alert him?_ ).

“We can’t… change the past, just influence the future. What happened- with the- how do you know?” She’s tired, Tony can tell. Her glasses are back on, but she rubs her eyes under them, and looks at him with such a weary gaze, he wonders if he should be helping the Parkers more. It’s the least he can do.  
  
“All Fri could really tell me was that he’s beaten up. She thought it was from patrol, but the bruises all happened when he wasn’t wearing the suit. I thought bullies, but they’re from out of school hours. The only person I thought would’ve known him and his schedule, known his home address- that’s you.”  
Tony’s phone buzzed again, multiple times in a row. He shut it inside of his desk.  
“Well there’s- let me think. There’s not really anyone else who could’ve-“

They both sit there, staring at each other for a moment, until something changes in May’s face, as he sees the reality of the situation hit her.  
“FRIDAY, contact Peter’s watch. Ask him if he need help-“  
“Peter has declined any offer of help. He appears to be contemplating taking the watch off.”  
“Is he okay? Can you ask him?”  
“Peter has replied that he is fine, and in his room.”

The two adults in the room sighed with relief.  
“I guess I’m not going back to work until this is sorted out. You mind if I take a nap? I’ve just done a 30-hour shift, I’m kinda out of it.”  
“You can spend the night here, there’s always a room free. I need to think on…whatever I can do. Anything I can do to help.”  
May sighed.   
“I just… want him to be okay. Whatever it is, we can’t go in all guns blazing. He’ll just shut down again.”  
Tony nodded, and looked her in the eyes.  
“No matter what happens, I’ll help both of you through this. No matter if it’s some secret partner he’s hiding from us, or a HYDRA agent, or even… hell, even if it was Pepper herself. I’m here for this kid.”  
She smiled.  
“Of course you are. Ever since all this started... the suit, the powers- you've just.. taken care of him. In ways I couldn't, like the suit, like the "internship", everything. You're so good to him, Tony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For clarification, this chapter (Recoil) and the next (Realise) happen at the same time, just in two locations.


	8. Realise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Does this darkness have a name?  
> This cruelty this hatred.  
> How did it find us, did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it?  
> What happened to us, that we now send our children into the world, like we send young men to war, hoping for their safe return but knowing some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way?  
> Consumed by the shadows; swallowed whole by the darkness.  
> Does this darkness have a name...is it your name?”
> 
> ― Lucas Scott
> 
> WARNING: This chapter is HEAVILY focused on Oliver abusing Peter and the aftermath. Peter is shown to be strongly dissociating throughout the chapter. Stay safe, and read at your own discretion.

“I wonder why Flash left so early,” Ned contemplated during the journey back to Midtown. He was sat next to Peter, who looked like he was receding into himself slowly, pulling his hoodie further around himself.  
“I don’t know. Mister Stark was… kinda mad today. Sorry I napped on you again, too.” Ned chuckled in response and shrugged.  
“You look tired all the time. Maybe you should take a break from… hanging out… on the web.”  
Peter nodded, sitting back up as the bus pulled into the school’s car park.  
“Yeah. Maybe.”

He walked home. It put a few extra minutes between him and Oliver, and gave him time to clear his head, even if a few people gave him an odd look about his limp and the way he kept his arm wrapped over his stomach. Pulling up the hoodie sleeve, he sighed at the state of the burn. It looked ugly and raw, and he knew his healing factor wasn’t working anymore or it would be gone.  
The journey up the stairs was difficult when he had to stop every flight just to catch his breath, but he made it. Pulling the keys out of his pocket with trembling hands, he entered the apartment almost silently.

“You’re late home, Peter.”  
His breath caught in his throat. He nearly cried then and there but swallowed down any whimper and looked up at Oliver, not meeting his eyes.  
“I’m sorry. School was busy and uh, I guess I just got distracted- or- I don’t-“  
Peter’s spider senses couldn’t have prepared him for the wave of pain that hit him when Oliver pushed him into the wall, pushing his shoulder into the surface until it felt like Peter’s bone might actually shatter.  
“Go put your stuff in your room. You know… we need to _talk_.”

Inside his room, Peter tried not to grab his web shooters and run. _He could_. It was a temptation that always lingered in the back of his mind. He could grab them and run until the earth ran out and no one would ever have to hurt him again. But he’d break May’s heart and ruin her life, and he’s already destroyed so much of what she loved, already been a burden for so many years-

He drops his bag on the floor and spots the starkwatch on the windowsill. The last rays of the sunlight filtered over the skyline and cast a warm gaze over everything in the room. It felt like a dream. Peter doesn’t feel real. He slipped the watch onto his wrist and turned around to face the monster in his house.

Every hit is barely felt. There’s pressure, and he can hear the yelling and maybe even his own pleading, but it feels like he’s underwater, watching from a third person perspective as his body gets destroyed. At some point he goes limp and feels Oliver standing over him, but Oliver looks like another man and Peter feels like a kid again. He wishes Aunt May were here, or Tony, or Ned, or anyone who could help. But it’s just him, and Oliver, and when he looks down at his hands, they’re covered in blood that seeps out of places where his battered skin has torn open.

The watch on his wrist keeps buzzing slightly. He wishes it’d stop. Everything is too much, and then he feels the whack of a dull object against his hip. Oliver turns him around and rips his shirt up and hits him over the back with an empty beer bottle, until he hits so harshly that the bottle cracks, and shreds itself over Peter’s back, leaving glass everywhere. He’s pushed, or maybe he falls, to the floor, and he stays there.  
  
“Clean this shit up,” Oliver scathes, and storms out of the apartment with Peter’s blood on his hands.  
When silence settles over the small space, Peter wonders if he can break too, and yet remain entirely put together.

 

It’s past sunset when Tony Stark remembers the phone in his drawer. May woke up five minutes ago and has been showering, according to FRIDAY. He’s turned the AI off for a while to think, knowing that the robot feels guilty about Peter’s situation, and needing to be free from her notifications for a bit. He only gets status updates on May now, delivered in a monotone, robotic voice that isn’t really FRIDAY, but _is_ her.  
He puts down the tech that he’s been playing with and opens the drawer, searching around until he finds it, and opens the notifications.

His heart drops to his stomach.

“ _Peter Parker has sustained serious injury, medical attention required._ ”  
“ _Peter Parker is experiencing great distress._ ”  
“ _Peter Parker has lost significant amounts of blood, medical attention requi…_ ”  
“ _Peter Parker has sustained serious injury, medical attention required._ ”  
“ _Peter Parker has sustained serious injury, medical attention required._ ”  
“ _Peter Parker has sustained serious injury, medical attention required._ ”  
“ _Peter Parker appears to have lost consciousness._ ”  
“ _Peter Parker has not eaten today. With his enhanced metabolism, this…_ ”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck-“ His heartrate spikes. He’s having a panic attack. He needs someone- anyone at all- “FRIDAY? FRI, call- call someone- fuck-“  
Tony sinks to the ground and barely hears the doors open, barely hears whoever it is that enters run to him. It could’ve been a serial killer for all Tony could care.

“Hey, breathe with me, okay? Just breathe in and out, well done, eccoi, eccoci…”  
“May!” He gasped, finding himself clutching to her. Whatever she was telling him to do was working, but he didn’t have time to sit there and thank her.

“Who’s at home with Peter- right now? Right now?” He demanded, and she settled her face grimly.  
“It’s my boyfriend. Oliver. I didn’t even think of him earlier, I was so tired but- fuck, he’s the only one who could… who could be hurting him.”  
  
Tony nodded, unable to speak. May stood up when she was sure he was better, and stormed around the lab.  
“Do you mind if I punch your wall?” She asked. He shook his head and stood up, letting the resounding thud ground him back into reality.  
“Just practicing for when I get my hands on that _bastard_ …”  
“I got notifications from the Stark watch. I think Peter has been hurt again, I’m taking the suit down to the apartment and you can take one of the cars.  You need Happy to drive you?”  
May eyed the state of her knuckles. She was expecting far worse when she was done with Oliver.  
“Might as well.”

As the suit wrapped itself around Tony’s body, he had never felt so relieved. It gave him strength that he needed to protect the people he loved, and God, he needed it now.

He was silent on the flight there. FRIDAY warned him that this would stir up gossip, and he shrugged it off. Tony could imagine a lot of scenarios when he walked into that door, all of them ending with him beating Oliver to a pulp, only sparing him so that May had something to yell at, and the police had something to arrest.

He could never have prepared himself for what he walked into.

The flat was dark, and empty. It was cold, quiet, and Tony could hear himself breathing as his eyes roamed the empty space. He opened the suit with a flick of his wrist and stepped out, leaving the shell there, guarding the door.

Someone groaned from the kitchen. He walked there, completely unarmed, and terrified. At first, he saw no one. It was only when his shoe crunched the broken glass across the floor that he looked down and saw Peter.

“Oh god, Christ, Peter?” He rambled, and the boy shied away from his voice. Tony could see little in the darkness of the apartment, but the dark stains over the cupboards and on Peter’s clothes were enough for him to feel sick to his stomach.  
“M’ster St’rk?” He slurred out, turning his head towards him and blinking owlishly, “do y’ need Sp’derman...?”  
Peter tried to sit up, which is when Tony saw the shirt on his back, practically torn open. There were darkening bruises over Peter’s skin and, if he squinted, shards of glass. He backed away from the boy and turned to the suit.  
  
“Call- fuck, I don’t know, get Bruce, tell him to meet me at the Tower, _fuck_ , and send a car down, _fast_.” Tony rambled before turning back to Peter.  
“Hey, Peter, Petey-pie, underoos, we gotta get out of here, yeah? I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier, kid, I’m so sorry.”

Peter eyed him suspiciously.  
“I need t’…” his eyes glazed for a moment before he pushed himself up, managing to stand up despite looking in worse condition than Tony had ever seen him, “I need t’ clean up or Oliver will get more mad...”

Peter didn’t realise what was going on. It was so heartbreakingly obvious to Tony that Peter was entirely out of it, and _so_ exhausted. He took a few steps forwards and left his hands hovering over Peter’s form as he assessed the damage, letting the boy lean against the countertop and recover from the strain of standing.

“I’m going to take you to the tower, Peter, okay? Dr Banner is going to fix you up, put a band-aid on it all. You’ll be fine, okay, I promise, alright? Stay here and- I’m gonna get you some clothes, do you have a bag packed or anything for sleepovers? Do kids do that anymore?”  
“…Have a bag… under m’ bed… for when Ned gets Lego…”

Tony takes that excuse to leave the scene for a moment, and bolts. He stands in Peter’s room and swears under his breath, pacing angrily. He hadn’t noticed how long this had been going on, hadn’t noticed for _weeks_ and the kid had been suffering the entire time.

He finds the bag under Peter’s bed as promised and grabs a few more shirts and sweatpants from Peter’s wardrobe, along with jumpers, boxers, a blanket from the bed, shoving them into the duffle. When he finds an Iron Man shirt, faded from being worn, he holds it in his hands and ignores the fact he’s crying. Something feels wrong when he puts it into the duffle bag, but he remembers what Aunt May said to him. Iron Man wasn’t here for him then, but he can be here for him now.

Tony walks out of Peter’s room and straight to the Iron Man suit, handing it the duffle bag.  
“The car is outside, Boss,” FRIDAY reports from inside. He nods and pushes the suit backwards slightly.  
“Take the suit into the med wing at the Tower, get a room set up for Peter, and tell him everything, okay? The bruises, the blood, the glass, the not eating, everything okay?”

The suit nodded, and left Tony there. This wasn’t a job for Iron Man.

When he walked back into the kitchen area, Peter glanced up at him. His eyes looked clouded with pain now, and Tony saw him slowly look down at the blood smears, and then up at him again.  
“M’ster St’rk, I’m so-“  
“Ah, ah, shush, kid.” Tony stepped forwards and ignored how Peter flinched backwards, taking the boy’s arms in his hands. He was only a little shorter than Tony now, and had he been at full strength, his writhing would’ve pushed the older man away. His arms felt like bones in Tony’s arms, and he easily pulled the boy closer, mindful of the injuries over his back.

“You come with me, okay? It’s alright, it’s alright.” Peter wasn’t struggling in his arms. When he pulled the boy along with him, all the way down the apartment complex, Peter seemed a million miles away, following him obediently.

Getting him into the car was less easy. Peter didn’t perk up when Tony mentioned sitting up front, just glanced up at him, without meeting his eyes, and then resumed staring at the floor. The silence was utterly unnerving, and the world felt empty without Peter’s bouncy laughter, or constant chatter.

The drive was silent too. The roads were almost empty, Tony sticking to less popular ones, and speeding back down to the Tower. He would look over occasionally, and Peter would be staring out of the window, arms wrapped around his chest, shivering. Tony turned up the heating in the car without thinking about it, and relaxed when Peter stilled.

When they got to the Tower, Tony took off his jacket and put it over Peter’s shoulders. The boy didn’t even move. He continued to follow Tony, who had one guiding hand on the boy’s arm, until they reached the medbay.

Bruce greeted them looking pale.  
“Tony, FRIDAY told me about-“  
“We can talk about everything later. Just… fix my kid, _please_.”  
Both of them looked at Peter. Bruce nodded.

 

“You’re just going to feel a little sting, and then you’ll feel quite tired. It’s alright to go to sleep, Pete.” Bruce chattered calmly as he sedated Peter. They were using some of Steve’s medicine, a lowered dosage because Peter was so underweight. Bruce had sworn when they’d peeled off the kid’s shirt, and Tony had tried not to throw up, or cry.  
“I need to… get May on the phone, she’ll be at the fla-“  
“You can’t tell May!” Peter broke in, hand on Tony’s arm, clenching so tightly that Tony wondered if the sedatives were placebo.  
“What? Peter, we have to-“  
“No!” He wailed, and Tony watched in horror as the kid’s face split with abject horror, “I’ve already- already been such a bother with the Spiderman thing,” Tony felt his grip weaken as the sedation took hold, “and Oliver might hurt her if he’s not hurting me and I just want… just want… want her to…”

Peter slumped down, his eyelids fluttering as he fought the urge to sleep.  
“I just want her to be happy…”  
He slipped away.  
“Tony…” Bruce started, but the billionaire was already backing away, telling FRIDAY to inform May of where Peter was. Then, he went to the training room.

Everything here was coated in a fine layer of dust, and Tony knew he was stiff from lack of sleep and not warming up, but that didn’t stop him as he threw the first punches onto the training dummy, nor did it stop him when he kept going.

 

 

 

 


	9. Restore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "“Hope” is the thing with feathers -  
> That perches in the soul -  
> And sings the tune without the words -  
> And never stops - at all."
> 
> \- Emily Dickinson

“Tones,” Bruce stepped into the training room, seeing Tony sat on a bench, staring out at the city skyline as the sun rose.

“Is he still asleep?”  
“Yeah,” Bruce sat down next to him. “He’s probably not going to wake up for a bit, I kept it that way. You need to sleep so you can be there for him when he wakes up.”  
Tony nodded, and stood up. Adrenaline out of his body, he swayed for a moment, and Bruce took his shoulder, leading him up to the elevator.

“He’ll be okay, Tony. Trust me.”

Daybreak had lit up the entire city by the time Tony woke up. He was sure there was a war waging downstairs as May must be here by now, and someone would’ve told Pepper- but he ignored that, telling FRIDAY to turn on some heavy music, and he showered. It felt good to turn up the heat until the steam washed out everything else in the room, and he could pretend that the worries of the past way were washed down the drain with the dirt on his skin.

He dressed in an old shirt and soft jeans, nothing like he’d been used to for a while. He dressed like it was a lab day again.

May got to him before he could reach the hospital ward, and she looked terrible, now freshly dressed in a sweater- Tony recognised it as one of Peter’s- and some leggings, but with dark circles under her eyes from exhaustion.  
“He smashed a bottle into Peter’s back, Tony,” Her words are clipped, and short, and furious. “All that… romancing me, dating me, it was _just_ to hurt a kid. He was using a fake name and everything. Previously been arrested for child abuse, and I never even thought-“  
Tony hugs her, both of them overwhelmed with anger and grief.  
“Neither of us would immediately suspect someone we love. We should…”   
They both looked over at the hospital door, before stepping through it together. They weren’t Peter’s biological parents, hell, they weren’t even together, but they were all the kid had.

Entering the room was both a heartbreak, and a relief.   
Peter looked so pale on his hospital bed, and miniscule in the clothes he wore. Bruce must’ve changed him into new, blood free clothes after bandaging him up. Walking closer, he could see the bandages over Peter’s chest where they poked above his sweater. May let out a little sigh of pain, and stepped forwards, sitting down on the bed next to him and ruffling his hair.

Tony didn’t feel like he belonged here anymore. This was intimate, this was family, and he wasn’t-  
“Tony, he’s waking up. Come over here. He needs you.”  
He walked to the other side of the bed, and took Peter’s hand, stroking the boy’s knuckles with his thumb. It was surreal to see him this still or quiet, until Peter groaned.  
“Rise and shine, underoos, you’ve got a whole audience waiting for you.”  
The teenager rolled his head forwards Tony’s voice, blinking until his eyes were cleared. He furrowed his brows at Tony, still shaking off the sedation.

“Wh’… what’s goin’ on…?” He murmured, and Tony took the glass of water that May handed to him, lifting it to Peter’s lips to let him drink.  
“You’re in the Med bay at the Tower, Pete. Aunt May is next to you.”   
Peter’s head turned around so fast that Tony got concerned- and he shuddered visibly when he made eye contact with May.   
“Peter, honey, do you feel okay?” She soothed him, running her hand through his curls, her face worried and open.  
“M’ back hurts…” He reached one of his hands up to May but left it lingering before it touched her, as if afraid to. She took it with her free hand and Peter looked slowly between them both.  
“Did I mess up?” Peter’s face crumples as he thinks, and Tony feels his grip tighten, “was Skip there?”  
Aunt May looks shocked.  
“What? No, honey, no, that man is still in jail, why do you… did Oliver…?” Her question hangs unfinished in the air, both adults completely attuned to Peter’s reponse.  
Peter flinches at the name, but otherwise looks calm.  
“No, no, Aunt May, I jus’… thought I saw him..” He shakes his head.  
“M’ster Stark, I can give you back the suit now… A-Aunt May, I don’t know what… I’ll get my grades up?” He offers, casting out a line into unknown waters.

It hits Tony and May at the same time. He thinks they’re disappointed in him.    
“Well,” Tony starts, and Peter turns to him, resignation in his eyes, “You’re definitely banned from the suit for a while. I’ve got some updates that need to go in, all planned out- you okay to help me with that on lab days once you’re settled back in school, yeah?”  
“…Help you out… w’ suit updates?” He glanced back at May, and then directly towards Tony.   
“I don’t understand.”  
“Well, I was planning out some upgrades anyways, and now you’re on imposed bedrest, I’m sure Bruce won’t mind you helping me out in the lab. As long as I get food and water in you on your schedule, otherwise he’ll kill us both-“  
“I can keep the suit? You’re not- not taking it?”  
“It’s your suit, Peter, not mine.”  
Peter turned to Aunt May now, pleading in his eyes.   
“Can I-“  
“Peter Benjamin Parker,” She stood up to her full height, keeping her hands on Peter’s.  “You will stay here until you get better, you will go back to being Spiderman, and if anyone ever hurts you again, you’ll _tell_ me, okay?”   
Peter’s bottom lip wobbled slightly, and Tony watched as May sighed, all the energy in her body seeping out as she sunk back down to the bed.

“I could never, never be angry at you for something like this, Peter. _Never_.”

She brings him into her arms, patting his hair again, and squeezing him tightly.  
“You’re my little boy. My Pete- and, and, God, I know you want me to be happy. I know you do because you’re a sweetheart, and you’re just like your parents, and Ben too. But you’re my world, Peter, and the only thing I have left, and sure, I’ll worry every night you go out… but I’m so proud of you. And I love you so much, okay sweetheart?”

Peter nodded into May’s shoulder, crying lightly.  
“I’m sorry I s-shut down again. I, um, I, I didn’t know what to do, my metabolism is so fast that I couldn’t- and Oliver was so- and you wanted to get that Doctor job so badly!”   
“You’re worth more than a job, Peter. You’re worth more than anything in the world. Tony and I, we’re going to work something out to keep you safe now, okay? Stop holding the world on your shoulders. We… _larb_ you.”

Peter laughed through tears. He turned back to Tony with a wet grin, still looking exhausted, and skinny, even if Bruce was feeding him what must be the most calorie dense liquids on earth, through a tube in Peter’s nose.  
“Mister Stark?” They made eye contact, and Peter gave him that trademark smile.   
“Yeah, kid?”  
“Thank you for saving me… again.”

Tony didn’t think he hugged him hard enough to show how much he loved him then. He made sure the next time, and the time after that, Peter was sure.

 

Later that night, when Peter was tucked up in one of Tony’s old Stark Industries hoodies, asleep and freshly dosed with painkillers- Bruce told him that the kid’s healing factor had come back as soon as his metabolism was satisfied, so Tony felt okay to leave him- and May had a new apartment ready to move into, and Happy organising movers to get them into a safer neighbourhood immediately- Tony made sure it was closer to the kid’s school- alongside Peter finally being paid an intern’s wage, Tony knows what he has to do.

He has one wrong left to right.

 

It doesn’t feel great storming up on Oliver in the Iron Man suit. It doesn’t feel great slamming his fist into his face until Oliver is bloody, and bruised, and dead.  
Because he doesn’t.

Instead, Tony Stark puts on his best suit, dark black and form fitted. He pushes back his hair with gel and puts on dark shades. He drives the police down to where he knows Oliver lives, and if he gets a punch in sideways, none of the officers with him say anything about it.

When he gets back, Peter is still asleep. May is curled up on the chair next to his bed, one hand still in his hair, a smile on her lips. Pepper walks in minutes after he does, and smiles at him, taking his hand in hers.

“You’re doing right by him, Tony. You might not see it all the time, but you do. Look at him.”   
Tony does. He sees a boy who he needs to guard, who has been hurt so many times and continued to smile, and he sees a thousand ways that boy can be hurt again.   
He will think of a thousand ways to protect him.

And if that happens after he’s fallen asleep next to the kid and his Aunt, then it happens then.

 


	10. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Everyday,  
> I think about dying.  
> About disease, starvation,  
> violence, terrorism, war,  
> the end of the world.
> 
> It helps keep my mind off things."
> 
> \- Roger McGough

Peter smiled as he stared out at Queens, standing on the top of a random apartment building and basking in the sunlight. It had been months since he’d been released from the medical ward, and May was finally happy that the neighbourhood wallcrawler was safe to go back out. Of course, he’d snuck out a few times to solve minor crimes before he was officially charged, but what May didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.  
He paused.  
Maybe it would hurt her a little.

“Hey Karen, anything fun for me this afternoon?” He quipped, swinging to another rooftop just because he could, and pausing when he heard a faint cry on the wind.  
“I haven’t got any police reports incoming Peter, but my sensors tell me that there may indeed be a fight somewhere.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” He turned around, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the empty streets. It was almost an hour after most jobs finished, so the roads were clear, and with the aid of the warm sunlight, he could see down every street. He swung to the next building, and heard it again.  
  
“ _Please, no, I’m sorry, it was an accident-_ “

“Karen, you got a location on that?”  
“Unfortunately, no. I can however tell you that an apartment in the third building across from you has a history of noise complaints. Perhaps it would be worth checking out?”  
Peter nodded, and she planned a course for him. As soon as he neared the building, he could hear more murmurs and then a distinct smash from something glass. It wasn’t a bottle against someone’s back, he was sure, but it _could_ be. He shivered involuntarily and held back a chuckle when Karen turned up the suit’s temperature.  
“Thanks, K.”

He swung across the buildings with ease, pretending that he wasn’t rushing. The walls of the complex were a cement mix, easy for him to grip onto- and yes, he had favourite materials to climb on, the Washington Monument not being one of them- allowing him to crawl down to the window Karen had highlighted.

The situation inside was clear as day.  
“You’re such a fucking idiot! God! I should kill you, I should,” He heard a short scream follow this and swung into the window, not caring if he could be accidentally interrupting something unimportant.

When the faces of two women, wildly apart in age, turned towards him, he knew he was in the clear.  
“Spiderman,” The younger girl breathed out, her eyes full of wonder. It didn’t do anything to help the way Peter’s heart clenched when he saw the bruise over her cheek, but it did give him the strength to step forwards, between the girl and who he presumed was her mother.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, and the woman ran without giving him a response. The apartment was silent again, Peter’s eyes lingering on the shattered glass over the floor.

“Are you alright?”

The girl- she must’ve been fourteen or so, barely a few years younger than Peter himself- nodded.  
“It’s okay, she does this a lot, it’s- it’s just how she gets sometimes. Mom doesn’t do it all the time, and it’s better than when dad comes home…”   
Peter smiled sadly behind the suit, thankful that he had the mask on.  
“Well, we can talk about that in a second, okay? Do you have a first aid kit around? I can see your hand is bleeding.”   
She pointed at a cupboard and he retrieved it, sitting down on the floor in front of her to bandage her up, cleaning the wound with some antiseptic wipes first. Karen guided him, and he thanked her silently for giving him time to think.  
“There we go,” He pulled the bandage closed and knotted it, looking up at the girl. “That’s a nasty one there, think I would’ve cried if it were me.”  
The girl laughs shakily.

“What’s your name?”  
“Maria.”  
“Y’know, Maria… parents aren’t supposed to hurt their kids. You’re not supposed to think about being hit when you come home.”  
“Trust me, Spiderman, being hit is the least of m- it’s nothing.”  
She sat down next to him, the both leaning against the wall near the window.  
“I bet you have some really cool crime to go and solve now, huh, bank robbery or something?”  
He mimed flipping through a calendar.  
“Nope, looks like I’m all clear for tonight. Want to tell me what’s going on?”  
Maria stared at him.  
“I don’t even know who you are. You could be anyone.”  
“You know I’m Spiderman. And… pretend it’s like confession or something, but instead of it being a creepy man in a box, it’s a friend.”  
She sighed.

  
“I guess… mom hits me sometimes? She drinks a lot and smashes all the bottles but she’s like… never _actually_ hurt me. She just yells a lot, like whenever I get in her way, and then when dad comes home, he- he-…” Maria’s staring into space now.  
Before Peter can speak, she starts up again.  
“You wouldn’t get it. You’re Spiderman.”  
Peter sighed heavily.  
“You’re right, I am Spiderman. But when I was younger, I knew two really terrible men. They did things to me that made me think I couldn’t trust anyone.”  
Maria’s eyes are on him.  
“One of them used to hurt me all the time. He’d tell me things that made me think I was a massive waste of space, or a burden on my family. He made me feel like I shouldn’t even be here because no one wanted me around.”  
  
Maria nods, almost unnoticeably.

“And what about- what about the other?” She asks.  
Peter chokes up trying to start his sentence, but powers through. He can talk about this, now.  
“He made me do things kids shouldn’t do. And I didn’t tell anyone for ages, and it got worse and worse, and I felt so terrible. I used to feel like, if I felt any worse, I wouldn’t be able to keep going.”  
“But you’re here now?”  
Peter nodded.

“I told my best friend. He told his parents, who told my parents, and the bad men both got arrested and taken away.”  
“I don’t have a best friend to tell.”  
“Then I’ll be your best friend, okay?”  
“Do we have to go to the police?”  
Peter paused hesitantly. He’d never had to do anything like this before. Karen saved him.

“I recommend taking Maria to a police station and allowing her to report these crimes. You could stay with her for emotional support and give a statement.”  
Peter nodded.  
“Whenever you want,” He sat back.

 

It took Maria an hour to get ready to leave. For most of it she sat still next to Peter, before popping on some sneakers. It took an hour for Peter to give his statement, and she waved goodbye to him as he left.

The journey back to the tower was quiet, Peter stopping a single mugging before making it back.   
“Karen, you think I did good today?” He smiled, breathless as he dropped down onto the back balcony of the tower.  
“You did wonderfully, Peter. I think Boss will be very proud of you.”  
“Aww, thanks Karen.” He picked up an apple as he wandered through the kitchens, heading straight down to the labs to meet Tony.  
“Although, you are fifteen minutes past curfew.”  
“Shit!”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, kudos'd, or simply read this fic.   
> It was such a warm welcome to writing fics for the MCU and I'm genuinely in awe at how supportive and interactive you readers have been. 
> 
> Thank you so much!


End file.
